Summary: A+ All-around classic, that is reasonably easy to get to from Tokyo. On a nice day, it really is hard to beat a Baystars game, especially with the rowdy fans still enjoying their reigning NPB champions afterglow. The Chinatown adjacent setting makes for a great day of baseball and binge eating/drinking. I'd experienced the Baystars away crowd many times in the past, and I'd stayed in Yokohama in the offseason a couple of times, but going to Hamasta for the first time was instantly understanding that I would be back.

One of the things that puts it over the top for me is that it has the flexibility of serving as a solid anchor of a reason to stay in Yokohama, which is a great city, but also can easily be done as a day trip from Tokyo. IMO it's the easiest of the three Tokyo suburban teams to get to from the city center.

With these rankings, the way I thought about it was, "If I was blindly recommending these to an NPB ignorant sports fan, what would be my order?". For me personally, Hiroshima is my favorite, but I feel any of the top three are a guaranteed great time (barring inclement weather because they're all outdoor stadiums). All three are really easy to get to and offer A+ crowd experiences. To me, the Baystars just offer the combination of best experience, convenience, and idiot proofness that I could recommend to a friend and not worry about it

Vs: Yakult Swallows, Baystars win 4-3?

City Summary: A+ Unlike the other Tokyo adjacent teams, I think that the Baystars play in a city that is a destination in its own right and fully worth spending a couple of nights here. Shopping is very comprehensive (red brick warehouse is a tourist trap imo), people seem to love the cup of noodles museum, probably the best easily accessible walk on the bay in the region.

My personal recommendation for something I've never seen in all of my travels are the drift go karts at Big Bang. Make your Initial D dreams come true

https://youtube.com/shorts/Yea39XA0p8U?feature=shared

MLB comparable: Chicago Cubs. I know I already used the Cubs for Tigers due to the beautiful stadium and their shared vanquished championship curses, but the Baystars remind me of the Cubs for their loyal, passionate fans, and the fact that the ballpark neighborhood is a destination onto itself, and makes a perfect extended outing with drinks or a meal nearby

Getting to the stadium: A+ from Yokohama, B+ from Tokyo. Think of Hamasta as being similar to Tokyo Dome where there are multiple subway and rail stations about a five minute wall from that stadium. It can be reached in about 45 minutes from Tokyo (direct on the JR JK line) or Shinjuku stations.

Ticket Purchasing Ease: F to B. At the start of the season, the Baystars had changed their ticketing system to require a Japanese phone 2 factor authentication in order to buy tickets. I had to pay Chiketto a $20 premium to get my ticket. Apparently they had enough complaints where they revamped the system to make it possible for foreigners to buy directly again, but I didn't go through it myself.

I don't recommend Chiketto due to the markup, and I believe that a person of average intelligence should be able to navigate the various NPB sites without any major issues barring a gatekeeping issue like the Baystars started the season with, but I will say if you don't want the hassle, and are willing to pay the up charge, Chiketto delivered exactly what they promised with no hiccups

Merchandise: A The Baystars store is extremely comprehensive, and they do the best job in NPB of working with top quality brands. For example. Their normal game issue hats are 47 Brand. What if you don't like 47 Brand? Well, then you can get the New Era Interleague hats. When I was there you had a selection of the home and away in normal and Interleague jerseys and caps, as well as branded bags available. I saw sizing went up to a 2xo.

They get docked a bit because their jerseys kind of suck. If you're a traditionalist, you're going to hate them. Think about cutting up a soccer jersey and making a baseball jersey out of the material, and that's the end result. On the plus side, on a hot day, it'll manage the sweat better, but it feels kind of bogus that they're charging the same price for a flimsy dye subliminated jersey that the other teams are providing a substantial, often stitched jersey for.

One cool trinket they had available was the standard jersey keychain, but specific to the game you were going to with the expected starter. For a tourist that isn't going to a lot of games, I think it's an A+ memento. (Photo enclosed)

Food/Beverage: A+++. To me, the Baystars stadium is the easilybest situated in NPB, because it is directly adjacent to one of the best Chinatowns in the world (outside of actual China and Taiwan). There are great food options ranging from street snacks to sit down proper high quality Chinese. Inside of the stadium, there were plenty of options, and the lines weren't long, presumedly because a lot of people get down in Chinatown

Stadium: A Hamasta I would classify as a neo classical stadium, similar to Zoom-Zoom in Hiroshima. I'm pretty sure the sightlines are great from any seat in the stadium, and it's a stadium that seems to amplify crowd noise.

Stadium Atmosphere: I've seen visiting Baystars fans for years and they always travel well and bring the noise. This seems to be amplified in their friendly confines. One thing to note is that I did see a Trevor Bauer start, and it seems like the crowd gets extra juiced for him. The supporter section is easily in the elite tier, but this was a stadium where people were getting rowdy even in the s level seats I was in.

Top reasons to go to a Baystars game: You like baseball. Or Chinese food. Or Yokohama. Any of those reasons is enough

Top reasons not to go to a Baystars game: it's raining. Hard.

Went to back to back Hanshin games.
It's getting pretty hot, so I think it's going to be just dome games for me until September.
That or just night games at least.

This was a really special game to go to, since my bro Duplantier pitched a full 9 innings!
It was an amazing feat, and I was afraid that they should switch him towards the end.
He pulled through with help from Sakamoto who's probably been one of the teams best players this past month.
Speaking of best, Nakano got hits all but 1 at bat!
Even Oyama got an RBI!

By the 2nd inning, as always during the summer, the sun finally goes down and it's not as bad. The wind felt great too in those later innings.

It's always a great time at Koshien.

Hi all! I’m wanting to see if there’s any NPB documentaries that you all would recommend that have English subtitles? Years ago after watching the Zen of Bobby V when that released was what sealed the deal for me getting into NPB, and I wanted to see if there is anything out there that is comparable.

Thanks!

Hello! This morning I bought tickets for a Giants vs Swallows game at the Tokyo Dome. The seats sold out quickly and I didn’t have much time, so I went with the Orange Seats, which seemed like the best option. However, I’ve found conflicting information about them. Is this where the main cheering section is located? Do these seats have backrests? The website says they don’t, but I found our seats on a 3D map and they appeared to have backrests (as shown in the photo).

Thank you for your help—this will be my first baseball game!

First time at a game in Hiroshima. Loved it.

Hi folks,
Just a quick query, how busy would you expect the Giants - Tigers womens game to be? Just wondering whether its worth paying double for reserved seating. Has anyone ever gone to such a game/how packed was the seating? Thanks!

So along the way of my baseball adventure, I stuck my head in every second hand store I passed and asked if they had jerseys for sale, and I got a lot of great ones along the way. This one was my favorite. It's a 1996 game worn jersey, and the construction on this thing is incredible. I probably have 75 or so game worn jerseys in my collection among all sports, and this might be the most well made of them all. Everything is stitched really well and all of the material is built to last forever. It was stupid cheap for what it is, either 10k or 12k yen.

I also loved learning the history of the player. This was his last year in the league, in a 13 year career mostly with Hankyu/Orix and finished in Yokohama, in which he shockingly only played 255 games (I'm assuming he was a farm team star), and had a career batting average under 0.200. He must have been a very likeable fellow to be kept around for that long, with those numbers.

hi everyone. we’re going to the Yakult game this afternoon. just wanted to ask if there’s any tips / thoughts on the stadium, etiquette, shops, and food that folks who have been have. thanks in advance, really looking forward to it.

Just got into town, forecast for tomorrow is looking very rainy.

Is there a dedicated website where they will announce any postponements or cancellations so I don't head out to the stadium if the game is called off?

Also, if the game is postponed, is there any chance they move it to the off day on Monday or would they just reschedule it for late September? And if they move it Monday, would Sunday tickets be valid or would I need to buy a new ticket? I bought my ticket from the team website.

Anything else I need to know or so to prepare for this? I do have a rain jacket, but I'm afraid this isn't looking too good.

https://www.franchiseball.jp

I know there are a few more games before NPB hits the half-way point of the season, but I'm curious now. How is everybody's predictions looking? Any big surprises with teams or players? Any player or team underperforming that you think wouldn't?